Goods-handler.



J. O. HOOVER. GOODS HANDLER.

APPLICATION TILED APR.22.1907.

AWE/1% MW 27W THE mmms PETERS co WASHINGTONI-D. c.

JOHN G. HOOVER, OF CI NOINNATI, OHIO'.

GOODS-HANDLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31 1907.

Application filed April 22. 1907- Serial No. 369,493-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Goods-Handlers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention, pertaining to improve ments in goods-handlers of the pole and springj aw type, will be readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a goodshandler exei'nplifying my invention, the device being shown broken out midway for lack of space, and the parts of such device being shown in their normal condition at rest; Fig. 2, a plan view of the device seen in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view of the device seen in Fig. 1, but with the jaws spread apart and embracing an article of merchandise, such, for instance, as canned goods; and Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 1, but of the upper end of the device broken off from the remainder and showing an axial section including one of the jaws only.

In these views, 1 indicates a pole, 2 a ferrule fitting the tapered upper end of said pole, 3 an upright fork projecting from a flange 4 forming a platform at the top of said ferrule, and 5 an arm projecting forwardly from said flange 4, an upright post or projection 6 extending from said arm 5 at its extreme outer end. The arm 5 is longitudinally slotted at 5 and through it passes a vertical rod 7, the latter being pivotally connected at its lower end to an arm 8, such arm being pivoted at its forked inner end to the pole 1 just above the handle portion 1 of said pole.

9 is a manipulating thumb-lever projecting from the arm 8 into convenient position in relation to the haandle 1.

10 is a lever pivoted at its inner end in the forked upper end of the arm 3 and pivotally connected at its outer end to the upper end of vertical rod 7.

11, 11 indicate L-shape arms projecting laterally and forwardly from the rear end of the lever 10, such rear end extending backward beyond the pivotal point of said lever 10, and 12, 12 indicate horizontal links pivotally connected at their rear ends to the outer ends of said L-shape arms 11, 11.

13, 14 represent a pair of jaw-arms piv- HooVER, a otally connected by means of a screw 15 to the platform part of the ferrule 2, as best seen in Fig. 4. The aw-arms 13 and 14 have at their inner ends circular heads or plates 13 and 14 respectively, the plate 13 having a barrel or hub extension 13 on which a coil spring 16 is loosely wound, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 4, the lower end 16 of said spring bearing against the outer face of j aw arm 13 at the point where the j aw-arm 13 unites with its turning-head 13 (as seen in Figs. 1, 2'and 3) and the upper end 16 of said spring resting along the outer face of the jaw-arm 14 at the point where such jaw-arm unites with its turning-head 14 (as seen in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4). The barrel 13 has a central hub 13 through which passes the shank of screw 1.5, such hub being shouldered at its upper end which extends beyond the plane of the barrel into a central orifice in the turning-plate 14" of the jawarm 14 and forms a bearing for the latter to swivel on (as best seen in Fig. 4).

The outer portions of the jaw-arms 13 and 14 are curved outwardly and are each covered with a rubber tube or sleeve 17 to form a good grip for engagement with the article to be handled between the jaws. The extreme outer ends of said jaw-arms, extending beyond the rubber grips 17 are provided with a notch 18, such notches being adapted to engage under the wire bails of buckets, or under other convenient parts of articles to be handled.

19, 19 indicate lateral arms provided at the inner ends of the jaw-arms adjacent the turning-heads of the latter and pivotally connected at their outer ends to the links 12, 12.

' In the operation of my device for use in handling canned goods and other articles of merchandise placed on high shelves in stores or elsewhere, the pole'with its spring-jaws is held in the position shown in Fig. 1. The operator clutches the handle with his hand engaging the thumb-lever, compressing the latter toward the handle and in so doing the rod 7 is drawn downward, carrying with it the lever 10, the slot 5 being long enough to provide for the forward travel of the rod 7 on account of the pivotal path of the lever 10. In depressing the lever 10, the arms 11, 11 carried by it move backward, drawing with them the links 12, 12, which, in turn, draw backward on the arms 19, 19 0f the jaw-arms 13, 14. The jaw-arms now spread outward on their pivots to the desired space apart to suit the goods x that are to be handled, either in placing the goods on the shelf, or taking the goods from the shelf that is above the reach of the operator. The removal of goods from the shelving is the prime use for which the device is intended and saves the operator the use of a ladder or other means of getting at the goods on said high shelving beyond his reach. The coil-spring serves to automatically close the jaws, when either at rest or embraced on goods to be handled, and the jawarms may be readily spread apart by compressing the manipulating thumb-lever and the aforesaid parts that control the tension of said coil-spring.

In use, the rubber sleeves 17 form substantial grips to prevent the goods slipping from place between the jaws and, also, any injury or abrasion to the surface of the goods against which they come in contact. The upright arm 6 at the fore end of the arm 5 is intended to act as a strike between the two j aw-arms and prevent any injury to the latter when they automatically close without any goods between them.

I claim 1. A goods-handler, comprising a pole, a

ferrule having a platform and an upright arm,

a lever having lateral arms at its inner end which is pivoted to said arm on the ferrule, jaw-arms pivotally connected at their inner ends and, in turn, pivotally connected together to the platform of said ferrule, a

ferrule having a platform and an upright v forked arm and mounted on the top of said pole, a lever having lateral L-shape arms and pivotally-mounted at its inner end on the forked arm of the ferrule, a pair of jaw-arms one of which has a plane orificed head at its inner end and the other one of which has a barrel with a center bearing for said planehead of the other jaw-arm, a coil-spring on the barrel of one of said j aw-arms with its opposite ends exerting tension on said jawarms for maintaining them in a closed position, a thumb-lever pivotally-mounted on said pole at its lower handle-end, a vertical rod pivotally-connected at its opposite ends to said thumb-lever and the outer end of the first-named lever, means for pivotally-connecting the j aw-arms with the pole and means for connecting the j aw-arms with the first-named lever whereby they are spread apart for engagement with the goods to be handled.

Signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this 20th day of April, 1907.

JOHN C. HOOVER. Witnesses:

JOHN ELIAS JoNEs, NORMA KEISER. 

